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OJ 11/16, [A] - Handwritten letter from Furtwängler to Schenker, undated

[Envelope:]
⇧ Herrn Dr. Heinrich Schenker
Wien
Keilgasse 8.
[calculation in Schenker's hand]
[no stamp or postmark]

[Letter:]
⇧ HOTEL [monogram "HI"] IMPERIAL
WIEN

⇧ Lieber verehrter Herr Schenker, 1

Wenn es Ihnen recht ist, möchte ich Sie gerne heute abend besuchen, nach dem Abendessen etwa 9½ Uhr. Bitte mit beiliegendem Brief eine kurze Antwort: sollten Sie nicht können, so schreiben Sie, wann Sie sonst Zeit haben, da die Verständigung Ihrer Telefonlosigkeit 2 wegen schwer ist.

In der Vorfreude Sie bald zu sehen, mit herzlichen Grüßen, auch an Ihre Frau Gemahlin,


Ihr ergebener
[signed:] Wilhelm Furtwängler

© Transcription Christoph Hust, 2008
[Envelope:]
⇧ Dr. Heinrich Schenker
Vienna
Keilgasse 8
[calculation in Schenker's hand]
[no stamp or postmark]

[Letter:]
⇧ HOTEL [monogram "HI"] IMPERIAL
VIENNA

⇧ Dear, revered Mr. Schenker, 1

If it is all right with you, I should very much like to call on you this evening after supper, perhaps at 9:30 p.m. Please send me a brief answer via the enclosed letter. Should this be impossible for you, write giving other times convenient for you, since communication is difficult on account of your not having a telephone. 2

In anticipation of seeing you soon, with cordial greetings to you and your wife,


Yours truly,
[signed:] Wilhelm Furtwängler

© Translation Ian Bent, 2008
[Envelope:]
⇧ Herrn Dr. Heinrich Schenker
Wien
Keilgasse 8.
[calculation in Schenker's hand]
[no stamp or postmark]

[Letter:]
⇧ HOTEL [monogram "HI"] IMPERIAL
WIEN

⇧ Lieber verehrter Herr Schenker, 1

Wenn es Ihnen recht ist, möchte ich Sie gerne heute abend besuchen, nach dem Abendessen etwa 9½ Uhr. Bitte mit beiliegendem Brief eine kurze Antwort: sollten Sie nicht können, so schreiben Sie, wann Sie sonst Zeit haben, da die Verständigung Ihrer Telefonlosigkeit 2 wegen schwer ist.

In der Vorfreude Sie bald zu sehen, mit herzlichen Grüßen, auch an Ihre Frau Gemahlin,


Ihr ergebener
[signed:] Wilhelm Furtwängler

© Transcription Christoph Hust, 2008
[Envelope:]
⇧ Dr. Heinrich Schenker
Vienna
Keilgasse 8
[calculation in Schenker's hand]
[no stamp or postmark]

[Letter:]
⇧ HOTEL [monogram "HI"] IMPERIAL
VIENNA

⇧ Dear, revered Mr. Schenker, 1

If it is all right with you, I should very much like to call on you this evening after supper, perhaps at 9:30 p.m. Please send me a brief answer via the enclosed letter. Should this be impossible for you, write giving other times convenient for you, since communication is difficult on account of your not having a telephone. 2

In anticipation of seeing you soon, with cordial greetings to you and your wife,


Yours truly,
[signed:] Wilhelm Furtwängler

© Translation Ian Bent, 2008

Footnotes

1 This letter is undated and the envelope lacks a postmark. The first dated letter from Furtwängler to Schenker from the Hotel Imperial is from 1929, so it is likely that this item dates from the late 1920s or early 1930s.

2 Schenker was resistant to the use of the telephone until late in his career, only finally installing one on May 2, 1932 (diary, OJ 4/5, p. 3725). The remark predates this letter to before that date.

Commentary

Format
1p letter, printed letterhead, holograph salutations, message, and signature; envelope, holograph recipient address
Provenance
Schenker, Heinrich (document date-1935)--Schenker, Jeanette (1935- c.1942)--Ratz, Erwin (c.1942-c.1955)--Jonas, Oswald (c.1955-1978)--University of California, Riverside (1978--)
Rights Holder
Heirs of Wilhelm Furtwängler, published here by kind permission
License
Heirs of Wilhelm Furtwängler, permission to publish granted my Mme Elisabeth Furtwängler on February 2, 2005. Any claim to intellectual rights on this document should be addressed to the Schenker Correspondence Project, Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge, at schenkercorrespondence [at] mus (dot) cam (dot) ac (dot) uk.

Digital version created: 2015-02-01
Last updated: 2010-06-28